Ikea Hack: How to Upholster A Fjellse Bed Frame

UPDATE: Having lived with the upholstered Fjellse bed for over a year, there are a couple of minor things I would have done differently – read more about that here if you are planning your own DIY.

The upholstered bed frame is finally done!

Thanks to the joys of loft living, there is very little natural light in the room. It makes taking decent photos challenging, so please bear with me on that! Anyhoo, I love the upholstered bed, and Little Man really loves it; there was a good deal of squealing with delight about “The Big Big Boy Bed!” – versus the Big Boy (toddler) Bed he’s in now. And a decent measure of bouncing too (we’ll have to work on that).

On the off-chance that you might want to create one of these DIY upholstered bed frames for yourself, here’s how it went down…

The Process

Here’s what I started with: the Fjellse bed frame from Ikea. At $50, it’s cheap as chips; it’s also solid pine, sturdy enough, and not the most beautiful beast to look at. I also went with the cheapest option for base slats, which set me back a whopping $30.

One: The Sides

I readily admit that I did not do this in the right order, but it worked. To begin, I started by cutting some 1/2″ foam batting and stapling it around one side. I didn’t go crazy with the staples, because I knew there would be plenty more to hold it in place when I attached the fabric later on.

Then I got a bit carried away wanting to see what it would look like finished, so I stapled some wool felt over the top. I stopped stapling about 6″ before reaching either end (the Little Man was helping me, hence the toys strewn about).

The blue wool felt cost me all of $5 for the entire yardage I needed to upholster the bed. It picks up the blue in the rug, and I couldn’t find anything else that blew me away that was less than $35 a yard. I needed five yards, and $175+ for fabric was more than I wanted to spend. So the felt came home with me, despite my reservations.

Two: Building Up The Headboard

I wanted a nice tall headboard, so I asked the Mr to fetch me a big sheet of plywood (and he did, which was very nice of him). It measured the same width as the bed frame and about 10.5″ taller (making it 55 7/8″ by 31″) – ask at the hardware store and they’ll cut it for you.

I drilled pilot holes and used wood screws to attach it to the headboard…

Then I added support beams to the back, built from 1″ x 1″ pine. I had these cut for me at Home Depot too, but they didn’t do a very accurate job so I had to shorten a couple of them with a hacksaw. I was feeling pretty awesome at this point with all the sawing and screwing – I mean, seriously, I built something out of wood all by myself. (Heavily pregnant) girl power!

I used a bit of wood glue to attach my vertical beams to the top of the Ikea headboard, then secured the frame to the plywood with more screws. Here’s where all the screws went:

I also bought plates to secure the wood beams to the headboard better, but it’s strong enough as-is so I didn’t use them.

Three: Upholstering the Headboard

Next came the padding for the headboard. I’d found a single/twin size memory foam mattress topper on sale at Target for $5 – way cheaper than foam batting. I added more staples and trimmed the edges…

If you’re curious, this is how I dealt with the corners (it’s easier to just show you pictures than explain, I think):

Next I stapled the felt over the headboard.

After adding foam to the foot of the bed, I was pretty sure that I hated the felt, but I carried on anyway.

Four: The Footboard

Not having thought about it beforehand, I realized that if I left the legs as they were, there would be a lump on both bottom corners, so I whipped out the hacksaw and made them flush with the sides. Obviously, this would have been easier to do before I put the foam on. This would also have been a good time to paint the legs.

Again, if you’re interested, this is how the bottom corners went down:

Five: Re-doing the whole thing (Optional, and best avoided!)

Having basically completed the entire bed, I decided that I was very definitely not feeling the wool felt. It looked almost as cheap as it actually was, and it didn’t seem worthwhile to skimp out on something that would have such a big impact on the finished look of the bed. So I trundled back to Joann’s (I do a lot of trundling these days) to see if there was anything I’d missed the first time around. There wasn’t, but I was still drawn to the $35/yard Dwell Studio fabric I’d seen last time.

Dwell Studio Square Lattice Hydrangea

It dawned on me that I should probably check to see if it was cheaper online, and it was – $16/yard at Fabric.com. I got a little bit carried away and ordered a whole load of samples as well for no particular reason other than that I thought they were pretty.

This is where the project stalled, because I had to wait for the fabric to arrive. It took four days, and when it did, I draped it over the headboard to make sure I loved it. It was pretty and the colours were perfect with the rug…

…but it just wasn’t quite right. I thought there might end up being too much blue in the room and, on an area that big, it sort of made my eyes hurt.

Fortunately, though, one of the samples was more promising:

Waverly Cross Section Charcoal

I totally wouldn’t have picked this had I not put the sample up at home, because I was set on a brighter colour to draw from the rug. But the rug has a neutral stone as one of its stripes, and the charcoal works great with the concrete ceiling and pillar. And so began another few days of waiting. (Incidentally, I completely recommend Fabric.com – shipping is free on orders over $35 and returns, thankfully, are really easy and free.)

This time, when the fabric arrived, I was sold. So I had another frenzy of stapling, until it was almost finished…

Spot the dog!

The bedding is a simple DIY. I used iron-on hemming tape to attach ribbon to a plain white duvet cover and pillow cases.

Six: The Legs

I still had to paint the legs, but I’m avoiding VOCs (for Miss Wigglepants’ sake), so I had to wait another week for the Mister to do it. He taped the fabric and used a coat of primer and then another of high gloss white paint.

The final step was adding a few decorative nails to the legs (left over from my coffee table re-do). I’m still debating adding more to the headboard, but I’m not sure it needs it.

After!

Cost Breakdown

Bed frame – $50

Slatted bed base – $30

Plywood – $15

6′ of 1″ square pine beams (for headboard) – $13

Memory foam mattress topper (for the headboard) – $5 (on sale)

Foam batting – $30

Waste of money wool felt -$5 (on sale)

Fabric – $70

Tools and hardware – already owned

Total cost:$218Which, for an entirely upholstered bed, is really good. Even just a upholstered headboard at Ikea will set you back $250, and then you have to add box springs, a bed frame and a bed skirt on to that. So yes, I am rather happy with my hack job, and the Little Man likes it too.

Here’s a slightly more substantial peek at where the rest of the room is at now – it’s slowly coming together.

Thanks Joanna. I'd recommend a mattress topper 3/4" to 1" thick. The topper I used was 1" and I wouldn't get any thicker, because it'll be harder to attach to the wood (I had to go out and buy the longest staples I could find for the headboard). You could go thinner, but any less than 1/2" might not give you enough padding. I'd love to see if you do give it a go!

Wow, great job! It looks amazing. I have a question. Do you think I could upholster it before putting it all together? I move A LOT and I want it to be easy to take apart and put back together after every move.

Hi Sylvie – I thought about that a lot, actually, because we also move a fair bit. I think it would be easier to just upholster it assembled and then, when you move, take the staples out and remove the fabric around the joints so you can disassemble the frame. I really don't think it would take long to take it apart and put it back together again – maybe 10-20 minutes tops.Otherwise, you may be able to upholster each piece separately, but the joints might not look as finished. Good luck if you do decide to give it a go!

I am setting up a room for our tween daughter as well and am not finding anything we like in our price range. We came across your idea and thought your bed turned out amazing and decided that's what we are going to do. Thanks for all the pics and info.

I love this! I'm exited to have a platform bed finally and this is a great way to decorate it. I have some none-decorating questions.You write you got the $30 bed base? How is it holding up? I'm not sure if I should upgrade when I get mine. Also, is the mattress from Ikea as well? And what size is it?

Hi Anna. I did get the $30 bed base, and if I did it over, I'd upgrade. In fact, I might upgrade anyway. The cheap one comes in two rolls of planks. They're not cut uniformly, and quite often one side will fall off the center support (particularly when we have to pull the bed out from the wall to change the sheets) and the mattress will sag, even though I've added a few screws to hold it in place.We didn't get an Ikea mattress, we got one from a local mattress store only because it was cheaper since we didn't have to pay for delivery that way. It's a full/double.Hope this helps – I'd love to see if you do decide to give it a go!– Lizzie

Hey Lizzie, Love your Ikea Hack. I'm not crafty in the least but on friday I am going to attempt this. Was wondering if you know what dimentions your 1" pine beams were cut to? I haven't bought the bed yet, and wanted to piggy back off your measurements get everything cut so I can spend the entire day stressing about making my upholstry seamless. Thanks so much, g

So sorry for the late reply! I'm not sure I'll be much help if you're kicking off tomorrow but the beams were cut to about 10" above the bed frame. It's a little hard to give an exact measurement now that they're covered in fabric and batting, so I'd probably get them a little longer and cut them to size of necessary.Good luck! I'd love to hear how it turns out!

My daughter fell in love with this bed, and did her bed like this. At first I asked her if she was crazy for wanting to throw her bed away and get this frame. My goodness, I'm so glad she did. She made 3 pillows for the bed all different sizes, and went with a white down comforter. I think she finally was a room she will keep for awhile, thanks so much.JB

This is an awesome idea! I would love to try this for our guest room. I am a little intimidated though, I am pretty crafty on a small scale but the size of this project scares me a bit. I think I'll give it a try. thanks for sharing.

This is an awesome idea! I would love to try this for our guest room. I am a little intimidated though, I am pretty crafty on a small scale but the size of this project scares me a bit. I think I'll give it a try. thanks for sharing.

Yes, I used one layer of fabric. If you use decent upholstery fabric, there's no reason you should need more than one layer. And I'm so sorry for the late reply! I thought I'd answered a while ago but apparently not – I blame Mum-brain!

The Waverly Cross fabric pattern was definitely the better choice. Very dignified. Very expensive looking.

The amazing amount of labor you put in got me thinking though. I'm one of those people who always tries to come up with a lazy man's solution to any problem.

I was wondering whether an almost (but perhaps not quite) as good effect could be achieved with a foam backed "slip cover" sewn to fit and simply slipped over the bed frame? The corners at the foot of the bed would probably be the hardest part to pull off.

This looks amazing, Lizzie! Thanks for sharing.I am eager to try this out but tend to develop allergies to fabric upholstery. Do you think this could work with leather or faux leather material? Would you have any recommendations? Thanks so much!– Jane

I just bought the twin size of this bed yesterday to make my big boy's bed! I'm debating on fabric but one is very close to the one you used. Thanks for the great inspiration!! One question: I planned on using the egg crate foam but also bought poly batting to top over that, followed by the fabric. Do you think that's overkill? I bought the batting before seeing your project…

If you cut the foam the same size as the plywood, you can use the batting to wrap around and attach that to the back rather than wrapping the foam around (does that make sense?). Or just use the batting as an extra layer of padding – either way, it's not a bad thing. Good luck!

Thank you so much for these instructions! I'm hacking the Rykene (it seemed a little sturdier than the Fjelse for a guest bed for visiting parents). So far it looks like it's going to cost me 250 including a small footboard, and screws and staples I didn't have, etc. – can't believe what a good deal this is though! Thanks for letting me know about fabric.com too – life saver! Thank you again :).

Sylvie, just wondering what you wound up doing – did you upholster together or separately? I also want it to be able to be taken apart, so would love your feedback if you get this over 1 year later :).

Hi Lizzie! I love the end result and I am currently in the process of doing this for my son's bedroom because I cannot seem to find a twin bed frame that looks kid friendly to me! I am planning on ordering my fabric from Fabric.com and would like to know how much Fabric you would suggest that I purchase. I am doing this for a twin bedframe. Hope to hear from you soon!

Hi Greg,
I didn’t upholster the back – just took the fabric round the sides enough to cover the foam. I thought about it but no-one sees it anyway and it would have made it harder to dismantle & move.
If you’re just upholstering the headboard, I’d stop where it meets the sideboards. It’ll be the simplest way, I think. Good luck!

Hi Lizzie! Do you mind if I ask why you got rid of the bed? I have a super cheapo frame right now (one that came free with my mattress) and would like to upgrade to something a bit sturdier, but a little nervous about this bed being something to use every night. My mom has the twin version in her guest bedroom but that barely gets used; tho its held up great for the past 3 years with stuffed animals! hahaha — Do you think this bed would hold up for at least 5 years for 2 adults? Thanks!

We only got rid of it because we moved to the UK and didn't think we'd have space (and we wouldn't have). I actually sold it to a good friend who still has it in her son's room and I believe it's holding up well. It depends a lot on the slats you choose – don't get the super cheap ones – because they kind of hold the whole bed frame together. I do think it would hold up for five years at least if you got decent slats. I'd love to see how it turns out if you do give it a go! 🙂

Hi Elyse,I can't remember exactly – I used a mattress topper for the headboard and then measured each sideboard and the footboard to figure out how much foam to get. I actually think the batting I bought was wide enough to cut into three lengths and cover all of them, in which case I probably got 2.5 yds or so.Good luck – would love to see how yours turns out when you're done. 🙂Lizzie

Hi. I have one of these FJELLSE beds and am very eager to make it look a bit better, hehe.I was just wondering hou does the back of the headborard looks. Did you finish it with something else?By the way, you did a great job 🙂

Hi Amanda. Mine was just sitting against the wall, so I just left it as-is on the back – I'm lazy like that! If you wanted to tidy it up though, you could just staple fabric on the back with neat edges. Good luck!